


in the end, we all become stories

by MaddyBee



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Babies, Fluff, Goddesses, Multi, One Shot Collection, Reader-Insert, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 08:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14015841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddyBee/pseuds/MaddyBee
Summary: Every women is a goddess in her own right, no matter whether or not she sees it.((Unrelated oneshots, multiple pairings, stories inspired by godesses))So far: Elips (hope), and Gaia (mother of all)





	1. Elpis

_Sam x Reader_   
_Angst/ fluff/ drama_

.

_Personification of hope (Greek)_

.

_She was willing to wait forever, if forever is what it took._

.

It was the day Sam was scheduled to be home, a simple courier mission with a low threat rate giving you an expected ETA. You’d woken up at dawn, your brain apparently too excited at the prospect of seeing your fiance to be able to sleep any longer. The bed was warm, despite the lack of an extra body, as you’d been happily starfishing to make the most of having all the space for once. The rain was gently pattering against the glass wall of your room, and the curtains were drawn the second you had woken - FRIDAY knew by now how much you liked to stare out at the silent world before facing another hectic day. Your face remained buried in your pillow, and you inhaled the smokey smell of Sam that still lingered on the pillows as you gazed off into the light grey clouds that were rolling lazily over the hills.

The team all agreed that the move from the Tower to the Base had been a great one, the separation from the public and a break from the constant noise of the City a welcome reprise. Sam and you had taken to hiking beyond the grounds, heading the opposite direction from the road into uncharted wilderness. It was the easiest way to get some time to just be you as a couple and not as members of the Avengers - there was one lake in particular with a small waterfall that had become your favourite place for some ‘alone time’.

Honestly, you could really do with one of those hikes now. Sam had been gone 16 days and the sexual frustration was really starting to mount. Heaving out a pitiful sigh, you sat up to stretch, a long yawn leaving your lips as you rubbed a hand over your face to wipe away the sleep.

Half an hour later, you were showered and dressed, and in search of some desperately needed coffee. Padding barefoot into the kitchen, you were greeted warmly by the rest of the team. Nat, Wanda and Clint were sprawled on the sofas watching old Friends reruns, Bucky was tending to a pan of fried eggs, and Steve and Tony were sat at the breakfast bar reading from the newspaper and a tablet respectively. Grabbing a bowl of granola, you poked Bucky in his ticklish spot, allowed Tony to ruffle your hair and dropped a sloppy kiss on Steve’s cheek before throwing yourself heavily down onto the sofa - or, more accurately, on top of Clint’s feet.  
The archer immediately let out a curse and threw a pillow at your face, starting what would quickly dissolve into a fight between half the Avengers.

Why would you have thought anything was wrong?

 

* * *

 

It was 8 pm when Sam was supposed to be home.

It was 9 pm when you called his cell phone and it went straight to voicemail.

It was 9:19 pm when you called the quinjet his team had taken to Finland.

It was 9:40 pm when you called Maria to see if she knew what had happened. She didn’t.

It was 10:22 pm when Maria called back to report that the team had called in at the last checkpoint, but all communication had been lost since then.

It was 10:24 pm when the fear turned your heart cold and made your hands shake.

It was 3:06 am when Steve finally managed to pull you from your seated position staring out of the hanger into the dark night sky and took you to bed.

It was 4:41 am when you fell asleep, crying into Natasha’s arms as she whispered words of comfort into your deaf ears.

 

* * *

 

The next day was a tense one.

You’d spent the majority of the morning curled up on Sam’s side of the bed, phone in your hand, waiting for a call from anyone who knew anything. When you finally emerged into the common area, shadows under your eyes and drowning in one of Sam’s hoodies, you were met with the stiff smiles and greetings of your team mates.

You spent the afternoon with Clint and Tony attempting to track down the missing team with the best technology in the world while Nat and Steve went to their last known location to look for clues.

There was nothing to be found by 7pm, yet you were still sat typing furiously and swigging from a cup of coffee at midnight.

 

* * *

 

It was four days after the scheduled return when an algorithm that had been running in the background, all but forgotten, found something.

One flight later and there you and the team stood, staring down at the smoking ruins of the aircraft. Bodies were strewn among the wreckage, all long gone. Sam, however, wasn’t one of them. As the bodies were airlifted out to be returned to their families, and your team searched the area for their missing comrade, you looked off into the distance and prayed for the first time in a decade.

 

If Sam really was gone, you’d know. That’s what you told yourself when a funeral was held for the fallen agents. He was your soulmate, a part of you - if he dies, surely you would have too. You knew he was out there, somewhere, waiting for you to find him.

The team humoured you at first, continuing the fruitless search, but you knew they didn’t believe it. Behind closed doors they whispered about your denial, about how if Sam was alive, he had to of been captured, and if he had been captured they would have demanded a ransom by now. There was no logical reason to believe he was still alive.

Yet, you did.

 

* * *

 

That night, like every other night, was spent working and tracking and ignoring whoever’s turn it was to try and convince you to go sleep until they went away. This time, it was Steve, sat by your side, your limp hand in his and those puppy dog eyes trying to catch your gaze.

“I’ve just lost one of my closest friends, I can’t lose you too.”

He gave up soon enough, and you poured a whisky and shut the curtains and prayed in the darkness, prayed that you’d find the love of your life before it really was too late.

 

* * *

 

It was 17 days after the scheduled return when your tears and prayers and pleads finally paid off. A signal from Red-Wing was picked up by FRIDAY, whoever was tinkering with the robot having inadvertently triggered a mayday alert.

Your heart was in your throat and your hand was slick with sweat where it gripped Wanda’s with vice-like strength. You were barreling down the ramp before the quinjet had even fully landed, and the fight was nothing but a blur to you.

There was dirt in your hair and sweat dripping into your eyes and somehow you were bleeding, but none of that mattered as you sprinted down corridors, desperate to see the one man you couldn’t live without.

Once you saw him, cuffed to a wall and badly beaten, tears started falling faster than you could stop. You laughed out loud in pure relief and Sam’s eyes shot straight up at the sound, his gaze drinking you in like water as a grin pulled on his cracked lips.

The cuffs were quickly torn from him, and his arms wrapped around you as you both slumped to the ground, a noisy, crying, tangle. Pressing a greedy, needy kiss to his lips you ran your hands over his body, happy to find that none of his injuries were too serious.

His forehead tipped forwards to rest against yours, and all the noise of the fight faded into the background.

“I didn’t think you’d come for me. They said you all thought I was dead.”

You shook your head, a half-sob half-laugh filling the air between you.

“I didn’t believe it, I couldn't. You couldn’t be gone. I was ready to spend the rest of my life searching for you.”

“How? How did you know I was alive?”

“I didn’t. I just hoped.”


	2. Gaia

_Bucky x Reader_

_Fluff/ family_

_._

_Personification of the Earth, ancestral mother of all life (Greek)_

_._

_Being a mother is difficult, especially when you don’t just have a baby to care for, but also a group of stubborn, emotionally challenged Avengers who are good at getting themselves into trouble._

_._

 

She was tiny, she was precious, and she was yours. Her gurgles and giggles filled the air as you squeezed her toes and pulled silly faces. It amazed you everyday how you had managed to create something so pure, how someone who had spent their days killing people had created a new, perfect life.

If you had trouble believing it, that was nothing compared to Bucky’s disbelief. You’re entire pregnancy had been spent with the man switching rapidly back and forth between being so excited he spent three days shopping for the perfect crib to being so adamant a monster like him couldn’t have a child that he’d had an episode and disappeared for a week.

All doubts that either of you had had about your right to have a family had dissipated the second you had first stared into those big blue eyes that looked so much like her father’s. She was a daddy’s girl through and through, and you didn’t doubt for a second that after holding his daughter for the first time, Bucky would lay down his life, his soul, his everything, to protect your little bundle of joy. So you called her Sky after the blue of her eyes and the light of her smile and the brightness she brought to your lives.

Smiling to the baby, you picked her up and she immediately cuddled into your chest as you walked through to the empty kitchen of the compound. The team were out on another mission, and you were left to hold down the fort. You were surprised by how little you missed the life of an agent, as being a SHIELD engineer and tech specialist had meant everything to you. But since going on maternity leave and getting to enjoy the quiet family life you’d never had, you didn’t know if you could go back to being the old you. You were seriously considering handing in your resignation, but it wasn’t a conversation you were ready to have yet.

Setting Sky down in the playpen and putting on the children’s channel, you started to prepare dinner, the text from Bucky confirming they were all safe and on their way home, giving you 40 minutes to cook up a big enough meal to satisfy a group containing two super soldiers. Sky was happily watching the tv, not yet able to see clearly but fascinated by the colours and sounds, and you kept a close eye on her as you pottered around the kitchen.

You were placing the final plate on the table when FRIDAY alerted you of the teams return. Grinning happily you turned to your daughter.

“Hear that, sweetpea? Daddy’s home!”

Sky gurgled in response, which you took as excitement, and you picked her up for a quick cuddle as the elevator door pinged - when Bucky got back from missions, he got clingy, and would likely whisk your daughter off with him pretty quickly.

“There’s my girls!”

You turned on the spot with a smile, breathing in the scent of home as you were engulfed in a warm hug, baby and all. Bucky dropped a kiss to your lips with a murmur of ‘hey doll’, before gently taking Sky from your grip and swinging her round his head till she giggled.

You were watching on affectionately when Steve’s arm settled around your shoulders and he dropped a kiss on your head.

“How are you and Little Miss? Everything ok?”

“Yeah, we’re all good here. How was the mission?”

Steve raised his eyebrows and blew out a tired sigh in answer, before giving you a squeeze and lifting his arm as Nat stepped up to hug you. It wasn’t until you were releasing Clint from a bear hug when you switched into what had become known as “Mum Mode”.

“Clint, you’re bleeding. What happened?”

The archer scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously, mumbling something under his breath about falling out of a tree and you rolled your eyes as you tugged him towards you. The cut on his bicep wasn’t long, but it was deep, and the hasty patch job obviously done on the field wasn’t doing much to stop the sluggish flow of blood. Turning your stern gaze on the others, you inspected everyone from head to toe.

“If anyone else is injured, speak now, or when I find out later you lied, I’ll kick your head in.”

Nat and Clint snorted in unison as everyone quickly shook their heads and held up their hands in surrender. Your narrowed gaze zoned in on Bucky - the most likely to be injured and ignore it - but accepted they were telling the truth with a nod, tugging the hand of the archer only to practically throw him onto the sofa as you left to get supplies. You were used to patching up various minor injuries from missions, so the cut was cleaned, stitched and bandaged before Steve and Nat had even finished piling the food on the plates. With a smack to the back of the head and a warning to be more careful for once, you sent him to sit at the table.

“Alright, Barnes, give up the baby, it’s my turn.”

As Sky was placed in Nat’s grabby hands to be cooed over by her and Wanda, Bucky wrapped his arms around you and pressed a longer, more intimate kiss to your lips.

“Is it getting any easier?”

Bucky shook his head in response, a wry smile on his face. “You’d think so, but no, I just hate leaving her. I hate leaving you.”

“You’re such a sap,” you joked, even though secretly you loved this side of him. “Now, come on, I had to fix the aircon today and go food shopping and decrypt a whole hard drive as a favour to Fury, I’m fucking hungry.”

Bucky laughed and led you to the table, where Tony looked up at you in confusion.

“The air con? What?”

“It was busted, I was freezing my ass off walking around with gloves and a scarf on. It’s real hard to gut the mainframe when your fingers are numb as fuck.”

The others laughed as Tony grumbled about how his tech never had problems.

Sam threw you a look as he tilted his beer in your direction.

“I don’t know what we’d do without you girl.”

Everyone toasted in agreement and laughed at you as you rolled your eyes, exasperated once more over how much you had to put up with because of these idiots. You cooked, cleaned, repaired the cars and weapons and found their missing keys (and hearing aids, if you’re Clint and decide to try find your way through the compound’s vents, drunk and blindfolded), protected them on the field from enemies and at home from their demons. You worked hard to keep the team functioning, and loved every single person around the table more than you could ever say.

In retrospect, you didn’t really need to worry about being a mother. With this lot around you, you’d been doing it for years.


End file.
